


Morning

by Branch



Series: After [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Drama, M/M, Porn, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-11
Updated: 2010-01-11
Packaged: 2017-10-06 04:13:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branch/pseuds/Branch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Roy and Ed deal with the way Ever ended, involving a lot of wibbling and fluff and a fair amount of porn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

### Ed.

Ed woke up wondering why his pillow was such a strange shape.

Waking _further_ up, however, he remembered where he had spent the night and why, and opened his eyes to stare at the expanse of Roy’s chest in front of his nose. Finally stirring, he raised his head to find Roy already awake and watching him. As Ed did nothing but blink at him, a smile tugged at Roy’s mouth.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever rendered anyone speechless for quite _this_ long,” he commented.

Ed opened his mouth, closed it, and let his head fall back down, onto the real pillow this time. “It’s just kind of… hard to believe this is real,” he said at last.

Roy laughed, low in his throat, and leaned over Ed. “Shall I convince you it is?” he teased, running a finger down the center of Ed’s chest.

Ed glanced aside, afraid he was blushing. “Would you think it was really silly if I said yes?” he asked softly.

“Not at all,” Roy murmured in his ear before nibbling on it.

Ed sighed as Roy’s lips traced the line of his throat, and let his eyes fall closed again.

### Roy.

“Coffee?” Roy offered as Ed came into the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Ed sipped and paused in the act of sitting down at the table. He eyed the mug and then Roy. “You make the coffee at the office, don’t you?” he asked, faintly accusing.

Roy sighed dramatically. “Ah, one of my darkest secrets, revealed! Yes, in fact I do. Hawkeye prefers tea, and no one else can make coffee that doesn’t taste acidic.”

Ed smiled into his mug and settled onto the chair, one leg drawn up under him. Roy contemplated his body language and hid a smile of his own. He was unexpectedly charmed this morning. He had never, in all the time he’d known Ed, seen him act _shy_. Even last night. He’d been hesitant at times, yes, but this morning he was acting downright bashful. Accepting a towel for his shower, a cup of coffee, it seemed to be these small things rather than actually going to bed with Roy that made Edward unsure.

Of course, Roy reflected, if he had stayed the night at Ed’s house instead of the other way around it would certainly have taken all the face he could muster to stroll blithely down to breakfast in the morning. Not least because Ed’s extremely protective brother and near-sister would likely have colluded to draw and quarter him.

Speaking of which…

Roy came to lean against the table. “Edward?”

Gold eyes looked quickly up at him.

“Does your family know where you are? Or, more precisely, what you’re doing here?”

Ed’s expression shifted to one of affectionate exasperation. “No and not exactly,” he answered. “I think Winry might have guessed, but I haven’t told them…” he broke off, and looked down again.

“That you planned to seduce me?” Roy supplied, wryly.

After a moment of blank silence Ed folded up on the table laughing until he was breathless. “Can you imagine,” he gasped, “their expressions,” another gasp, “at the very idea…”

Roy had to laugh himself at the image.

### Ed.

“Nii-san… you… he… you…” Al sat down rather abruptly on the couch.

Ed rubbed a hand over his forehead.

Roy had seen him off, with a light kiss, before leaving for headquarters, and Ed had made his way home torn between contentment and anxiety. One of the causes of anxiety was the question of how Al and Winry, who each had their own reasons for not entirely liking Roy, would react to the news that Ed was sleeping with him.

So far, Al was stunned and Winry was quiet.

Winry sat and took one of Al’s hands without taking her eyes off Ed. “Why?” she asked.

Ed was silent for a long time trying to organize dozens of half-thoughts into a reasonable response. “Because being with him makes me feel like I’m more alive,” he said at last.

“You’re happy with him?” Al pressed.

Ed threw himself back in his armchair and stared at the ceiling.

“Happy,” he agreed. “And infuriated. And like I want to protect him. And like I want to spend a week arguing theory with him. And scared. And like I can lean on him. And he’ll hold me up.”

Al and Winry had both softened somewhat during this recitation. Ed had a sudden urge to add _And like I want to run my hands over every inch of his skin and let him kiss me senseless_, but stepped on it.

Clearly, Roy was rubbing off on him.

Winry looked at Al, who was looking at Ed with a reluctant smile, and nodded briskly. “Right. Just as long as he understands that if he hurts you I’m going to disassemble him, flame or no flame.”

Ed grinned for the first time since he’d gotten back. “I’ll be sure to pass that on.”

### Roy.

Hughes, stopping by Roy’s office, took one look at him and burst out laughing.

“You did it! Didn’t you? Didn’t I tell you?”

“Do I have it printed on my forehead or something?” Roy wanted to know, irritably. “Hawkeye asked me if my evening went well, and she almost _smirked_.”

“Just about.” Hughes leaned on his desk, chuckling. “You have that extra smug glow that says what happened, and an underlying hint of panic that tells the informed who it happened with.”

“Panic?” Roy asked frostily.

“Quite justified, of course,” Hughes breezed on. “It’s been a long time since you had a serious lover instead of an affair.”

“You should know,” Roy grumbled.

“Yes, I should.” Maas looked sidelong at him with a crooked smile. “And that’s why I can tell that this is serious. So be careful with yourself, Roy. I know how deeply you can dig yourself in.”

Roy set a hand over Maas’ to make his friend look at him straight on. “Do you think there’s some reason I shouldn’t?” he asked quietly.

“Oh, no. In fact I think this is just about the best thing that could happen to both of you. But he’s still young, Roy. It might take time before he’s ready to settle down, even if he spends all that time with you.”

Maas turned his hand over and gripped Roy’s tightly. Roy looked up at him, warmed by the concern in those hazel eyes.

“Thank you, Maas.”

### Ed.

“Shousho?” Ed tapped on the office door.

Roy turned away from the windows. “Come in, Edward-kun.”

Ed entered and hesitated just inside the door. The sunlight falling across Roy made him glow and picked out the elegance of his bones. Ed wanted very much to touch him, but reminded himself that they were at work and should be reasonably discreet…

Roy smiled and held out his hand.

Well, never mind, then.

Ed came to him and settled against him with a sigh, resting his head on Roy’s shoulder. Roy stroked the nape of his neck with soothing fingers.

“Is everything all right, Ed?” he asked eventually.

“Yeah. It’s just… I didn’t think it would be so different. After.” And, much lower, “I want to touch…”

“It’s usual with new lovers,” Roy reassured him, smoothing his hair. “It gets less intense after a while.”

“How much of a while?”

“It varies,” Roy said thoughtfully. “With Ariana it lasted about four days. Hughes and Gracia were mutually entranced for nearly two years.”

Ed lifted his head and stared, eyes wide. “Two years? How did they manage for two years like _this_? It’s incredibly distracting!”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Roy purred.

He traced his fingertips over Ed’s face and then down his neck. Ed drew in an uneven breath.

“Especially when you do that,” he whispered.

“Do you want me to stop?” Roy asked just as softly.

“Hell no.”

He met Roy’s kiss open mouthed, let Roy’s tongue twine around his and draw out his breath. Roy leaned back against his desk and pulled Ed between his legs to lean against him. Ed wound his arms comfortably around Roy’s shoulders, pleased with the solidity of Roy’s body supporting his.

“Are there any rules against this kind of thing?” he asked, struck by a sudden thought.

“Specifically or generally?” Roy inquired.

Ed glared. “Be difficult for the fun of it later; answer my question now.”

Roy smirked. “Being a civilian, most of the military regulations don’t apply to you. A liaison between a civilian State Alchemist and his military commander is not specifically forbidden. It would probably be wise to be discreet, though.”

“Thought so,” Ed sighed.

A gleam entered Roy’s eye. He bent his head and Ed felt teeth close on his throat. His body snapped taut as those teeth nipped a path up to his ear.

“So,” Roy breathed, “is it later?”

### Roy.

“What are these?”

Roy looked around to where Edward was holding out the sleeve of a burgundy suit-jacket.

After two weeks, during which Ed had spent over half his nights with Roy, Ed had gotten tired of not having clean clothes in the morning and asked a bit diffidently whether Roy would mind if he kept a change tucked in a drawer somewhere. Familiar with this particular annoyance, Roy had cleared out several drawers and a section of the wardrobe, and invited Ed to fill up as much of the space as he liked.

He had yet to resolve the matter of Edward stealing his bathrobe in the mornings, but one problem at a time.

They were now putting things away, and Ed was discovering that Roy did, in fact, own more than uniforms.

“Well, that one in particular is what I wear when Hughes insists on hauling me along to a concert.”

“And the black suit?” Ed wanted to know.

Roy sighed, and came to kneel on the floor behind Ed with an arm around his waist. “The black is for funerals, the green shirt is for going out in the summer, _this_” he plucked at a brilliant scarlet sleeve, “is for being obtrusive…” He paged through his clothes, naming them as he went, ending with a stack of blue cotton pants and white shirts. “…and those are for just wearing. Satisfied?”

Ed was quiet for a bit, contemplating the clothes as if they were some new diagram. “Costumes.” He looked over his shoulder at Roy. “Except for those last. They’re costumes aren’t they?”

Roy was taken aback for a moment, until he remembered exactly who he was speaking to. This was the person he had taught to see these things, not infrequently using himself as an example. He rested his chin on Ed’s shoulder, reflecting on the pitfalls of habit. The physical intimacy was easy enough, but he kept forgetting that it was paired with a much deeper intimacy this time.

Ed, probably sensing his mood, half turned in his hold to snuggle against his chest.

Roy was discovering that, despite his standoffishness with just about everyone, Edward was actually an extremely tactile person with those few he trusted. Roy still had to conceal his crogglement that he was, apparently, someone Ed trusted.

Ed seemed to decide Roy was still thinking too much, because he shoved against him, tumbling them both over onto the floor. He planted an elbow on either side of Roy’s head and propped his chin on his hands, grinning down.

“So you’ve caught me, have you?” Roy asked, amused.

“Pretty sure, yeah.” If Ed’s voice had been a little lighter and his eyes hadn’t become shuttered, it would have been a joke, and likely led to a wrestling match that Roy would have lost until he managed to… distract Ed. But it wasn’t quite.

Roy thought it might be a question.

Had Edward caught him? Well, yes, Roy didn’t usually sprawl on the floor with casual friends lying on top of him. Roy supposed the real question was how thoroughly Ed had caught him.

How thoroughly did he want to?

“Come here,” he whispered.

Ed let himself slide the rest of the way down, laying his head on Roy’s shoulder. Roy stroked his hair aside, arranging the long tail of it in an aesthetic curve on the floor, and ran a hand gently up and down Edward’s back. Ed relaxed against him, fitting his body more comfortably to Roy’s.

It took a while for Roy to really notice that Ed was still making tiny movements, and a little longer to realize that Ed was adjusting himself in relation to Roy’s hand on his back.

_Hm._

Roy slid his hand under Ed’s shirt and scratched between his shoulderblades. Ed made a small happy noise and arched up a bit. That was definitely it. Roy obligingly continued scratching. Ed squirmed against him.

“Mmm. To the right… little further… down some. Oo, there. Ah. Mmmmm.”

Roy couldn’t contain his chuckles as Ed collapsed bonelessly over him, making little humming sounds in his ear, as close as a human could come to purring.

Edward, he reflected, might just be able to capture him completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The coffee in particular, and in fact significant parts of this whole arc, are largely thanks to [Coyos' influence](http://ciceqi.slashcity.com/). She keeps writing stories that raise questions that won't leave me alone, not to mention images that sneak into my own stories when my back is turned.


	2. Chapter 2

### Roy.

“So, what…”

Ed had to stop for a jawcracking yawn before trying again.

“What possessed you to use the east facing bedroom anyway?”

Roy looked on in amusement as his bedmate squirmed yet further into the covers in a vain attempt to escape the morning sun. “It’s the largest, and the one with an attached bath,” he explained, very reasonably, for the nth time.

Ed made a grumpy noise and huddled against Roy’s side.

Roy suppressed a laugh as he stroked Ed’s back, coaxing him out again. Ed had some very set morning routines, and, on weekends when they had time for it, grumbling about the early sunlight was one of them. Ed was perfectly cheerful once he was up and awake, but he seemed to enjoy being persuaded.

Finally, Ed uncurled and stretched from toes to fingertips. If Roy was in the mood for it, he could start a morning tussle by trailing a finger down Ed’s stomach at just this moment, which would make him squeak and curl up in a ball before assaulting the source of the indignity. This morning, though, he had a different surprise in mind.

Ed rolled out of bed, shaking his hair into a semblance of order, and snatched up the plush black robe that hung just inside the wardrobe. As he was turning away, though, something seemed to catch his eye.

Roy allowed himself a tiny grin.

“What’s that?” Ed asked, glancing back at him.

Roy had told Ed some time ago just how fetching a sight he made with his hair down and the robe hanging open from his shoulders. He hadn’t mentioned that this was why he had put up with Ed’s theft of his robe. He had, however, taken it into account when he decided what to do about the matter. He came to stand behind Ed, and lifted the blue plush robe down off its hook.

“This,” he said, pulling it on, “is for me to wear while you steal mine.”

A faint flush rose in Edward’s face before he turned and leaned into Roy. “Thank you,” he said, very low.

“You’re welcome,” Roy replied, winding an arm around Edward’s waist. “Shower?”

Edward nodded. Roy lifted his chin. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“No. That would be… fine.” The blush was more distinct now. Well, it was the first time Roy had asked this.

Ed let Roy lead the way, and draw him under the water. Ed naked with his head tipped back and water running down him was even more fetching than Ed in Roy’s robe. They washed each other leisurely, trading the sponge back and forth.

“Shall I do your hair?” Roy asked.

“If you want,” Ed agreed, surprised.

Every now and then his lover’s innocence about his own beauty made Roy shake his head.

He was slow, careful not to tangle or pull, and Ed relaxed into him. “You’ll put me back to sleep,” he murmured.

“If you need the extra sleep that badly, perhaps I should,” Roy told him, rinsing the soap out.

“No. You just… relax me that much.” Ed opened his eyes, looking up through lashes beaded with water drops.

Roy didn’t know whether Ed understood how great a compliment he’d just paid Roy; he thought not. So he simply smiled and kissed away the water on Ed’s lips.

### Ed.

“No, that can’t be it!”

Thursday’s breakfast was long gone, and the kitchen table had been taken over by paper and pencils. Ed had been arguing cheerfully with Roy for nearly an hour over how and whether a team of alchemists in the South might be transmuting a fantastically unstable compound whose import was forbidden. Well, cheerfully for them, anyway.

Ed narrowed his eyes at Roy and flourished a piece of paper from the pile on the table between them. “It’s obvious that they would need a _seven_ point diagram if they’re trying to transmute this stuff out of sapphire!”

“Only,” Roy pointed out with a cutting edge, “if they have someone familiar with the Saturnine manuscripts, which are rare enough to make that unlikely.”

“You’re going to trust the incompetence of your opponent?”

“It’s often a reliable approach,” Roy returned.

“Yeah, well, not this time,” Ed growled.

Before Ed could continue to the evidence of knowledgebility Roy unfolded his hands and leaned across the table.

“No,” he agreed, silkily, “not this time.” He slid his palm down Ed’s jaw line, brushing his thumb over Ed’s lips.

Ed’s hand rose to push Roy’s away before he thought about it. “Don’t do that!”

They both pulled back and Ed tried to think why he had objected so strongly. Roy had touched him before when they were arguing. In fact, just a few weeks ago they had had a wonderful debate over the use of leopards versus lions in alchemical codes while lying naked in bed.

But this was different. Roy’s manner was different. Slowly, Ed realized that he’d seen Roy look like that before… when he was maneuvering some political target into doing what he wanted. Ed swallowed and looked up at Roy just in time to see his eyes widen and his mouth flinch.

_He… didn’t realize either?_ Ed thought about that for a moment. And shuddered. “You’ve used sex that way, too?” he asked, a bit choked. “Just another lever?”

“For a long time,” Roy admitted quietly, staring straight ahead.

Ed was torn right down the middle between the urge to comfort Roy and the urge to run screaming.

“Edward. I’m sorry.”

Ed looked up, wide eyed. He could not, off hand, remember Roy ever apologizing for anything before. He bit his lip and reached a hand over the table. After a beat, Roy slowly lifted a hand to meet him. Ed laced their fingers together.

He couldn’t say it was all right, because it damn well wasn’t. But he tried to show in his grip, in his face he hoped, that the apology was accepted. It seemed to work, because some of the bleakness left Roy’s eyes.

_Then_ he went around the table and burrowed into Roy’s arms, stroking his hair while Roy buried his face in Ed’s shoulder.

### Roy.

“Good afternoon, Shousho. You look like you’re in a good mood today.”

Roy made an agreeable sound as Hawkeye set the day’s reports on his desk.

“In fact,” she continued, “you’ve been looking better in general lately.”

Roy eyed his aide. “I’m pleased that my personal life provides so much entertainment to my staff,” he drawled.

Hawkeye stared him down. Roy couldn’t remember a single moment she’d ever been intimidated by him in any way.

“I don’t know why the others are so happy, but _I’m_ happy that you’ve stopped abusing yourself.”

Roy raised a brow. “I beg your pardon, Shousa?”

“You know what I mean, Sir,” she told him firmly. “The ones for political reasons were bad enough, but the throw-away affairs with people you could never trust were worse. I’m just glad it’s over.”

“You make it sound like I’ve gotten engaged,” Roy remarked, amused. Hawkeye had always kept an eye on his personal affairs, he knew, but she rarely commented on them. “I would remind you that Edward is only nineteen. He could well choose to move on.”

Hawkeye looked like she had something she very much wanted to say but didn’t think she should say it. “I doubt Edward-kun is going to let you go that easily,” was all she tossed over her shoulder in parting.

Roy blinked after her, contemplating her choice of words.

Ed_ won’t let _me _go? Has she seen something I haven’t?_

### Ed.

“Morning, Shousho.”

Ed knocked on the office door as he opened it and booted it shut again behind him. Roy made a distracted sound of acknowledgement. Ed tucked the volume of research results he’d been wading through back into its place on a shelf and went to see what Roy was occupied with, leaning on the back of Roy’s chair. “Still with Forsythe?”

“Unfortunately.” Roy tossed the flow chart he’d been scribbling on back onto the desk. “Any luck with your end?”

“Not yet,” Ed sighed. “I hate it when work stalls like this.”

A sudden, impish smile curled Roy’s mouth. “Well, how about a break, then?” he suggested, turning the chair to face Ed.

“Such as?” Ed asked, a bit suspicious of that expression.

“Something… relaxing,” Roy assured him, hands coming to settle on Ed’s hips.

Ed blinked down at him. “You’re kidding.”

Roy pulled him gently forward until Ed was kneeling over him on the chair, grinning the whole while.

“You _are_ serious!” Ed was laughing as he caught Roy’s shoulders for balance. “Roy, we’re at _work_!”

“The door’s closed. That’s discreet enough,” Roy declared, running his hands up the back of Ed’s legs.

On the one hand, the door was merely closed, not locked, and Ed had no intention of sharing this part of his life with anyone else, thank you.

On the other hand… well at the moment the other hand was Roy’s, and it was tracing patterns up his back in a very tempting manner.

_Oh, what the hell._

Ed concentrated, which wasn’t easy just at that moment, and sent the crackle of transmutation through the wood of the desk, of the floor, of the doorframe, which temporarily became a single piece with the door.

“Delightful,” Roy murmured, as his hands trailed down Ed’s front, undoing things as they went.

Ed took in a wicked glance from dark eyes, and then he was lost in the heat of Roy’s mouth on him. He let his head fall back, let himself melt into the heat, trusting Roy’s hands to hold him up. The slide of Roy’s tongue pulled a long moan from him.

When Roy drew back, Ed sank down, wrapped his hand around Roy’s chin and kissed him deep and slow.

“You’re completely crazy,” he announced against Roy’s mouth, hands busy with the clasps and buttons of his uniform.

“Without a doubt,” Roy agreed easily.

Their clothes went to decorate the desk, but they themselves finally wound up on the couch.

Or, at least, Ed was on the couch, arms spread across the back, with Roy kneeling on the floor between his legs. At this time of day the sunlight fell directly across them, and Ed closed his eyes against the brightness even as he luxuriated in the feel of the warmth on his skin.

Roy’s hands swept up his back, pressing Ed tight against him, and Ed made a soft, inarticulate noise as Roy’s teeth closed on his bared throat.

Roy’s hands drew him to the edge of the cushions. He felt Roy’s cock sliding against his rear and arched back, breathless, anticipating.

“Ed?” Roy asked against Ed’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Ed said, definitely.

Roy went very slowly, as he always did when they made love like this, and Ed appreciated it. It let him feel every millimeter of Roy that was inside him bit… by… bit…

And then Roy’s hand closed around him, teasing, knowing, and Ed lost track of individual senses in the tide of heat and tension and pleasure. When he opened his eyes to brilliant light it seemed only appropriate.

He slid limply off the edge of the couch and into Roy’s lap, where they leaned on each other and exchanged small, slow kisses.

“We just had sex… on your office couch… in the middle of the morning,” Ed commented between kisses.

“Nice thick walls,” Roy replied, “I doubt anyone noticed.”

Ed laughed. “Completely crazy,” he reiterated. “I love you.”

Then he blinked. _Did I just say that?_

Roy caught Ed’s face in his hands and kissed him far harder and hotter than before. And then he simply held Ed and gazed at him for a long moment before his mouth quirked.

“I believe I love you as well, Edward Elric,” he said softly, tone somewhat rueful.

Ed ducked his head against Roy’s shoulder, as Roy’s arms closed around him, and stayed there for a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

### Ed.

Ed sprawled on the living room floor, watching as Al and Winry debated whether they needed new armchairs or could just get the old ones reupholstered.

“What do you think, Nii-san?”

Ed shrugged, lazily. “I like the ones we have pretty well.”

Winry gave him a sharp look. “And how much longer are you going to be around to have an opinion on them?”

Ed flopped back, groaning. He’d known that was coming, sooner or later. “I don’t know.”

He could _feel_ the look Al and Winry exchanged, even without seeing it.

“Nii-san? Do you… not think he’s serious?” Al’s voice was concerned.

Ed supposed there was some reason for the concern. Ed spent at least half his time at Roy’s house instead of his own. His conversation had become peppered with Roy’s comments even in the man’s absence. And now Al was wondering whether his big brother was about to get his heart broken for him. Al thought that way.

And by _serious_ Al most likely meant _lifelong_. That, after all, was the way he was serious about Winry. But when Ed tried to compare what was between he and Roy with what was between Al and Winry, somehow the terms just didn’t seem to translate very well.

“I do think he’s serious,” Ed tried to explain, “we just haven’t talked about things like that yet.”

“Ah.” Al still sounded concerned.

Winry took pity on Ed in a very typical fashion, and turned the conversation. “So, is he any good in bed?”

Both brothers choked. Winry attempted to look innocent and failed miserably. After wasting a few moments glaring, Ed decided on a subtle revenge. He let his expression go a bit dreamy.

“It’s like falling into the sun without getting burned,” he told her with complete truthfulness.

He checked Winry’s expression, and found it approaching doting. All right, never mind subtlety. “Why, are you looking for tips?” he asked, and let his gaze slide from her to Al.

Winry turned the color of a ripe raspberry, and Ed grinned. Victory was his. Not even a high velocity couch pillow could take it away.

### Roy.

Roy liked the fact that he almost always woke before Ed. It gave him a chance to watch Ed without being observed. Ed did not, contrary to popular wisdom, look more innocent while he was asleep. He sometimes looked just as innocent awake. Nor did he precisely look unguarded; even asleep his body held the hint of motion, of readiness. Roy supposed that what Ed looked asleep was more himself, without calculation or care.

Of course, in a purely physical sense, most of the time a sleeping Ed looked like a fallen angel after a good party. Roy took the strand of silky hair that slipped over Ed’s shoulder in his fingers and lifted it to his lips.

He looked down again to find Edward awake and gazing up at him, eyes wide, lips parted.

“Good morning, Ed,” Roy said, softly, over the strand of gold he still held.

Ed’s eyes softened, and Roy shivered, brushing a hand over his cheek. “Edward,” he breathed, only half aware he was speaking out loud. “Do you really mean what that look says…?”

“What does it say?” Ed asked, voice husky.

Roy was silent a moment before he answered. “That you would give me anything I asked you for.”

Ed tilted his head considering. “Yes,” he said at last, and laid his hand flat on Roy’s chest. “If I could ask back.”

Another shiver ran through Roy, and he lowered his head until his temple rested against Ed’s. “What would you ask me for?” he whispered, formless anxiety tightening his nerves.

A tiny laugh brushed past his ear. “I don’t know,” Ed answered. “Do you?”

Roy took a deep breath and felt the corners of his mouth curl up. “No, I suppose not.”

He kissed Ed’s shoulder, down his chest, letting his tension transform into desire. Letting Ed’s responsiveness carry them both away into a simpler intensity.

### Ed.

“Is something bothering you, Ed-kun?”

Gracia-san had eased Al out of the kitchen by asking him to keep her husband away from the food preparation, and given Ed a bunch of carrots to slice to keep him busy. Now Ed knew why. “Not really,” he denied.

Gracia-san waited. There was no need for her to be concerned, Ed told himself. It wasn’t a huge problem. He shouldn’t trouble Gracia-san with it.

Oh, who was he kidding?

“When did you know you wanted to be with Hughes-san for good?” Ed asked at last.

“Hm.” Gracia-san smiled reminiscently. “Well, let’s see. I knew him for about a year, casually, before we ever really got to know one another. I met him through Roy, you know.”

Ed blinked.

“I used to work at the city library, didn’t I ever mention? I met Roy when he came to Central to study, and Maas when they made friends.” She stirred sauce and looked thoughtful. “I suppose it was a little over six months after Maas and I really started to know each other that I winkled an engagement out of him. I think I had to work on him for about two months. So, four months or so after we became close was when I decided.”

“Ah.” Ed paid very close attention to his carrots.

“I think it’s harder when it’s someone you’ve known for a long time, actually,” Gracia-san said, reflectively. “Harder to tell what’s changed.”

“Mm.” There had probably never been such perfectly diced carrots before in culinary history.

“Are you still wondering about Roy?”

Ed just barely missed his own finger.

“It’s not… we’re… not that, but…” Ed stammered.

Gracia-san patted his hand, and he looked up to see her smiling sympathetically. “Or is it that you _are_ sure?” Her voice was gentle.

Ed bit his lip. “I think so,” he said softly.

Gracia-san smoothed his hair back and dropped a kiss on his forehead.

“Well, then, you need to talk about it instead of dancing around it, or backing off from it, or _whatever it is_ you do instead of talking.” She gave Ed a meaningful look.

Ed was positive he had turned the same color as the radishes. Carrots. Carrots were absolutely entrancing, yes they were.

“Gracia-san?” he asked after a little while.

“Yes?”

“How did you and Hughes-san really get to know each other?”

Gracia-san looked over her shoulder with a soft smile. “We started talking.”

### Roy.

Roy looked up from his book to see Ed leaning in the doorway watching him. Seeing that Ed had a book of his own, Roy smiled and held out a hand.

“Business or pleasure?” he asked, nodding at the book as Ed came and wrapped his hand around Roy’s.

“Pleasure, mostly,” Ed answered. “History.”

Roy rearranged himself against one arm of the couch and tugged Ed down to recline against his chest. Ed settled back with a sigh as Roy slipped an arm around him. It wasn’t long before Roy set down his book and wound the other arm around Ed also, resting his cheek against Ed’s hair.

It felt… very good to have Edward here like this.

“You’re thinking,” Ed asserted. “What are you thinking about?”

“How well you fit,” Roy told him.

Ed let his own book fall. “Well enough to stay right here?” he asked, voice low.

Roy was sure Ed could feel his heart speed up. He didn’t think Ed was asking whether Roy’s legs were falling asleep.

“Yes,” he murmured at length. “If you want to.”

“I do,” Ed said, looking straight ahead. And then he turned in Roy’s arms until he could brace his right arm on the couch behind Roy and lift his other hand to cup Roy’s cheek. “Do you want me to?”

“Yes,” Roy whispered. “I do.”

Ed took a breath like he’d just come up after a long time underwater, and let his head fall to Roy’s shoulder. “Then I will.” His voice was a little choked, and trembling on the edge of a laugh.

Roy gathered him as close as he could, the same laugh rising in his own throat. He had laughed more in the last few years than he had honestly thought he ever would again. Most often because of the young man in his arms right now.

“Ed…” He smiled and said very quietly in his lover’s ear, “Welcome home.”

**End**


End file.
